Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1887-03-11
CATCHING A BIG SHARP
The Experience of an Old sai,o,
Monster Which Was Fond of WIN

The Experience of AN Old Sailor ,,,,
Monster Which Was Fond of Beef
"You see I was in the brio A.
bound to New Orleans for cotton nsfa
Fall River account" said q sailoru o.
New York Sun reporter. "Thera W. No.
nine able seamen on board end I'VE. IeA
boys, which was a tidy crew for q . aNras
OF that rig. I reckon we was o ltaN
t~hirty-fve miles off Cape Carny SuoS
when it happened. The doctor w as'a
scrapin' of some saltpeter off a chH.,
of beef just abaft the fore rige !, si y
one mornin', when it slipped somehaH
and down it went. Before anv y
could pucker his mouth the bustiyn,G% as Ivy
shark I'm tellin' you of, which he'd ~ ~
Tered us for three days past, shoot, oa.
from under the starboard quarter. a"s
swallers the beef. The doctor aug
pretty mad, but the old man rav wy
He was that close in his calcula,te;aa;,
that hi was nigh hand to what som.
folk would call stingy, aid beef c ost
money. HIS swore he'd catch that shsss
and eat him, and he did it, too. w.
got up the hook and Inc, and had
look at the chain and swivel to see on
clear, and then we heaves her Two.
board with q prime bit of pork on. W.
had a long wait, but the next watcS
MI. Shark gobbled the whole capooSls
and tried to make of, but we brouoht
him up with a turn around the cleat
where the starboard main sheet mads
fast. Then we got the end of q spars
coil of manila made fit for tops'l hail,
iards aft, turned a runnin' bovine int
the end on it, slipped the moose down
over the line and then over the shark's
nose by workin' him alongside, and so|
got the moose around the small of his|
back, which is where the tail sprouts
T'other end we leads to q tall block II
the lee foreriggin', takes it to the can.
stan, and walks around to the tune 81
Bound Away Der the Rollin' River.
which all the men could sing beauti.
full.
"As 1 was sayin', that ERE shark had]
followed us for three days. We'd been
powerful unlucky, somehow, durin'l
that 'ere time with losing things over
board, all on account of the shark,
First the mate dropped his diddy boz
over while knockin' the dust out of n
on the rail. Then the second mate hadl
SHE'D a rope fender, which it was A
solid ball of junk two feet thick, all
Duck Henderson and missed him, andl
over it went. The old man had gotl
out q proper silk umbrella what he|
used to keep his beaver hat dry with
when he went ashore. He wanted to
air the umbrella, but the wind out Of
the spanker caught it and over it went
al! spread out. Last of all the mate,
Mr. Jameson, had put a big music.box
on the taffrail while it played the horn
pipe and the second mate danced; but
a lurch of the vessel dumped it over,
and that were only the night before the
n what I'm telling you of.
"But we had the shark, and in course
we was o little curious to see how
things would be arranged among the
innards of him when we'd histed him
in aud landed him on deck. I was fol
slashin' open the brute the momen'
we'd got his tail chopped off, but TIN
old man wouldn't have it.
eyer too impechewus,' he said, say,
he. Just keep in mind, you may spill
suthin' what's into it, So he takes
knife and goes at it hisself. He make
a long slit down the belly and the,
gradually makes it deeper, taking
cross-cut on MI. Sharks throat in tn
meantime. He worked away till abou
ready to cut the inside skin, and the1
gets a hook into the flesh on each sid,
the slash so we would open it suddin'
when we got the word. When all wa
ready he gave a final rip, and Their
lay the entire contents of the stun
mick before u.s."
yes" said the young man eagerly
"Yes?"
you'd a thought the beef had never
been touched. It looked better. if any
thing, than before the doctor lost it,"
But the umbrella and the music
box and the other things?" said thu
young man.
what umbrella"
"Why, the silk one the captain los
overheard"
I'm course he lost it overheard. JUS
as 1 was a sayin'. The wind outen thu
spanker caught it, and it sailed away
like a Portngee man-o'-war."
well, but what kind of condition
did you find it in when you opened the
shark. Did the ribs get broken? And
was the music-box all right and the
other things?"
"D,ye mean to ask was them things
INTO the sharks stummick? Now, lool
a-here, Young man, don't never vol
pelleve anybody that tells YOU warns
ABOUT inc sharks %swallering any suct
things. What I'm a.sayin' is that that
ere bee what the shark swallered
wasn't digested any,, and there amt nc
stummlck g made, 'ceptin' a sailo,
man's' that can get any nourishment
outer the grub what's served in the
West Indy trade"